A Comparison of the Four Countries

National Culture and Economic Ideology. From this combination of values we can expect a higher level of individualistic values in the U.S. where both national culture and economic ideology reinforce individualistic behavior. The converse might be said of China. Thus, China and the U.S. represent ideological opposites in the work environment in spite of the present move toward capitalism in China

They also represent cultural extremes in the sense of Western and Eastern beliefs, religious underpinnings, and social values; Thus, we feel that it is reasonable to view the U.S. (cell 1) and China (cell 4) as polar extremes of our contrasts, as shown in Figure 2. Of course, the data ultimately will support or reject this perspective.

Japan and Russia have been influenced over the past fifty years by economic ideologies and national cultures that emphasize different orientations. In Russia, the economic ideology is more collectivistic-oriented while the national culture is more individualistic-oriented. Thus, Russia contrasts with China from a sociocultural standpoint, and with the U.S. from an economic ideological perspective. Conversely, Japan’s economic ideology is more individualistic-orientead and a national culture is more collectivistic-oriented. Thus, Japan's culture contrasts with that of the U.S., while its economic ideology contrasts with China's socialistic ideology.

William Miller notes that of the four countries where he has led plant startups, China is by far his most formidable challenged due to the unbelievable differences in work values. He cites having to deal with individuals who have lived through three decades of a collectivist society, where jobs are guaranteed and no one can be fired for poor performance and where security and tradition are still highly regarded values.

According to Hofstede’s study [1980] initial analysis of the Individualism-Collectivism values construct - our dependent measure, the United States scored highest on the dimension of Individualism while Japan ranked lower than the U.S. Russia and China was not included in Hofstede's study, Japan did score higher than Hong Kong and Taiwan – the two countries in Hofstede's study that most closely approximate China.

Tung [1988] hypothesized that China would score low on Individualism due both to the high value that Chinese attach to the family group and to the socialistic influence of Communism.

Holt et al. [1994] showed that Russian managers' scores were mixed- some were significantly lower and some were not significantly different- when compared with their U.S. counterpartss' cores on dimensions related to Individualism. Thus, there is some evidence to suggest that Individualism appears to equate best to the Western culture and capitalistic ideology of the United States, while Collectivism appears to equate best to the Eastern culture and socialistic ideology of China.

In sum, the U.S. and Japan, the two leading economies in the world today, are Relevant representative of Western and Eastern capitalistice conomies. China also may become the leading world economy over the next quarter centure. And Russia, once the heart of the superpower USSR, is a prime example of a socialistic Western culture that is showing great potential – as well as growing pains - in its quest to become once again a global economic power [Holt et al. 1994; Economist 1995b]. These four countries are real-world societies that are important players in today's changing international business world. Recent geopolitical changes have sparked questions about the assimilation of a management philosophy that is based on market economies, in countries where a socialistic economic ideology has prevailed [Holt et al. 1994; Kiezun 1991; L'Vov 1992;